Outshone
by EpicInTheLibrary
Summary: It's hard growing up in your brother's shadow. Angsty Disney Channel, yay!


_I think I warned you guys. If I didn't, I apologize for this._

* * *

It's hard growing up in your brother's shadow. It's hard being constantly outshone, the one disregarded even though you're _right there._ It's hard.

Zack Martin has gone like this his whole life. Standing behind Cody, Cody, Cody, oh, what a prodigy, a miracle, surely! But the boy standing next to him? Well, he sure is lucky to have an incredible brother like Cody, whoever he is.

Zack remembers the day he got his score back for the history exam, the last one of the year. He'd actually tried, thinking that maybe if he got close to his brother's score, things wouldn't be so hard. Well, the work payed off, because he received a B minus. The highest he'd ever gotten on anything. He couldn't wait to get home and show his mom. Maybe she would be proud of him.

He remembers coming home that day, feeling childish excitement over his achievement. Cody threw open the door and they both stepped in, his mouth already working in excitement.

"Mom, you'll never-"

"Guess what I got on the last history exam of the year!" Cody interrupted, making Zack's excitement die just a little. Carrie Martin stood from the couch and headed over.

"Woah, okay, one at a time," she said, smiling and watching Cody expectantly. "What'd you get, honey?"

"An A plus!" Cody burst out, practically bouncing up and down in his excitement. "I didn't miss a single question, that's a hundred percent!" Zack's throat closed as his mom showered Cody with praise and hugged him close.

"Oh, that's great, honey! That's my boy!" Suddenly Zack's paper didn't really seem to matter anymore. It didn't matter that his teacher had written, "_I'm proud of you!_" because his mother wouldn't be after, well, that. She turned to him, still smiling, eyes shining, and asked, "What were you going to tell me, sweetie?"

"Nothing," Zack brushed off, his chest aching in this weird way that made his whole body feel heavy. "It's nothing, really."

He went into his room and shut the door, immediately tearing his test to pieces and throwing every last bit in the trash can. What did it matter, anyway? He would never be anywhere near as good as Cody. Why did he even try?

Cody came in later, closing the door behind him and beginning his daily routine of tidying up the room, speaking over his shoulder at Zack as he did so.

"So what did you get on the test?" he asked disdainfully, obviously once again disapproving of his brother's bad study habits. "C, D plus-"

"B minus," Zack corrected softly, staring down at his hands as they played with the bed sheets. He lay on his stomach, chin resting on the bed. Cody turned to look at him, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Oh," he said, and it almost made Zack feel worse. "Well, why didn't you tell mom?"

Zack snorted the most fake laugh he'd ever come up with and said, "What, am I supposed to tell her everything, now?"

"Well..." Cody shook his head. "Well, no. But B minus, I mean- That's the highest test score you've ever gotten. You should at least tell someone."

"I told you," Zack responded.

"And I'm proud of you," Cody said just as evenly. Zack's heart skipped a beat.

"You are?"

"Of course," Cody replied, leaning back against the desk he'd been cleaning. He frowned. "Well, unless you cheated. You didn't, did you?" he asked suspiciously, and Zack's heart fell again. Of course. Couldn't be trusted.

"No. Just studied."

"Well good. I'm glad you've finally grasped the utter importance of schoolwork." He nodded, then turned and continued to clean up the desk.

No, Zack wanted to say, to correct him. No, I haven't. I just wanted to be as good as you.

Later, at dinner, when Zack was merely picking at his food, Cody suddenly spoke up, "Zack got a B minus on his exam."

Zack's head snapped up in surprise. His mom was staring at him, a big _smile_ erupting on her face. "You did?" When Zack nodded, she said, "Why didn't you tell me, Zack, this is so great!"

"I didn't think it was important," Zack shrugged, his heart starting to lift again.

"Not important?" Carrie repeated in shock. "Honey, this is the best score you've ever gotten, of course it's important!" She got up to go over and hug him, wrapping him up and making him feel big and special. "Oh, sweetie, I'm so proud of you," she murmured, and when Zack looked up he caught Cody's smile, unable to help returning it. Suddenly, he didn't feel so useless anymore.

That night, when Zack was absolutely sure Cody was asleep, he whispered a "thank you" to him, still feeling warm inside. He really was lucky to have a brother like Cody.

* * *

_I won't be writing any more Suite Life stuff mainly because I hatehatehate typing Zack's name. And I don't enjoy it. I just wanted something angsty and this is all I coud come up with. Disney, man. Based off of the episode with Zack's "fear of bananas." You know. Or maybe you don't._

_While I'm here, this is the only Suite Life fanfiction I've ever read and actually liked. Don't worry, I don't read it anymore. ht tp:/ /www. fanfiction. net/s/4914146/1/ _

_Seriously read it, I really like it. MY LOYALTIES STILL LIE STRICTLY WITH MONSTER, HOWEVER. THIS WAS BEFORE I FOUND THAT PIECE OF GENIUS._

_And honestly, this isn't my best effort. Obviously. I mean, what's up with Zack's elevator heart? It's like AND THEN IT WENT UP AND THEN IT WENT DOWN AND THEN IT WENT UP AGAIN AND THEN IT FELL OFF BECAUSE A DICK SIMPLY CANNOT SURVIVE THAT MANY ERECTIONS/EJACULATIONS IN THAT SUCCESSION. I DON'T KNOW. PLEEEEEEASE REVIEW._


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